back alley
IMAGES
looking at a small canon flash...priced at about 60 bucks canadian...shipping (to canada) from japan (or hong kong) is free...shipping from the states is 50 bucks!
really?
really?
oltimer
Well-known
Joe, I know you live in Western Canada, and I order continually from the US via US Postal Air Priority, for around $15-20. You may have a dealer that wants to make money on shipping charges? Don't deal with these type.
oltimer
Well-known
I should add; Stay away from Fed Ex, and all those special carriers as they will nail you to the cross in broker fee's and anything else they can ad on.
Ko.Fe.
Lenses 35/21 Gears 46/20
No, it is gauging.
BH sends it by Purolator to your door here under much lower price and for bigger packaging.
USPS shipping flat rate to GTA is 20.00 for padded envelope with small box in the envelope. Flash should fit in.
"Type of Service: Priority Mail International®
Padded Flat Rate Envelope"
Lauffray
Invisible Cities
Welcome to Canada, rarely had a good deal on shipping from the US, and we live about 90minutes from the border, go figure
Agree with the others, avoid FedEx and UPS
Agree with the others, avoid FedEx and UPS
Dante_Stella
Rex canum cattorumque
International shipping from the U.S. can be quite expensive; Ebay really wants you to use Priority International, which has pretty high rates (not the worst to Canada but still pretty bad).
Understand also that Japan has very low EMS rates, and China (including Hong Kong) subsidizes outbound mail via an arrangement called the Commercial E-Packet, which makes it cheaper to mail stuff from Asia to the U.S. (or Canada) than it costs to mail across the U.S. Read about it in the Washington Post, here. The U.S. postal service loses money on the arrangement, and it takes it out of the hide of U.S. sellers selling to other countries. E-Packets also get favorable customs treatment.
That is, in small part, why used photo accessories (mainstream ones) are essentially worthless: in selling them, you could never compete with subsidized new ones from China.
Dante
Understand also that Japan has very low EMS rates, and China (including Hong Kong) subsidizes outbound mail via an arrangement called the Commercial E-Packet, which makes it cheaper to mail stuff from Asia to the U.S. (or Canada) than it costs to mail across the U.S. Read about it in the Washington Post, here. The U.S. postal service loses money on the arrangement, and it takes it out of the hide of U.S. sellers selling to other countries. E-Packets also get favorable customs treatment.
That is, in small part, why used photo accessories (mainstream ones) are essentially worthless: in selling them, you could never compete with subsidized new ones from China.
Dante
back alley
IMAGES
'China (including Hong Kong) subsidizes outbound mail via an arrangement called the Commercial E-Packet'...
didn't know that!
didn't know that!
Lauffray
Invisible Cities
Makes sense I suppose, but you can still get something shipped faster from Japan with less customs hassle than from the US
Ong
Well-known
Hey, feel for us in Australia... we get the short end of the stick no matter where we order from 
Beemermark
Veteran
My experience, going back at least 20 years, is I will no longer ship to or buy from Canada. I'm not sure what the causes are but prices with the government run postal services are terrible, shipping is very slow and stuff usually arrives damaged. I never experienced any problems shipping to Asia, Australia, Russia or Europe.
The USPS prices (and other details) take into account the foreign countries pricing practices. Since I've never had any problem shipping anywhere except Canada I think you should there for the problem. I believe your postal service is ran by low bid contractors?
The USPS prices (and other details) take into account the foreign countries pricing practices. Since I've never had any problem shipping anywhere except Canada I think you should there for the problem. I believe your postal service is ran by low bid contractors?
Tony Whitney
Well-known
Quite recently, I decided to buy a third-party 43 mm lens hood from an outfit in New York. It was something like US$18:50 retail. When I'd "done the sums" and reached the final checkout, the final cost in Canadian dollars was over $60! Naturally, I scrubbed the whole exercise, looked up a dealer in China and ordered their equivalent - a nicely-made vented metal hood, well finished and carefully packaged. The total cost, including shipping, was under $20! Frankly, I think the USPS is going to destroy many of the small online sales businesses in the US that tend to deal in minor, inexpensive, items like lens hoods, filters, used accessories etc. Incidentally, I must say that in many decades of usage, I've never found fault with Canada Post and if I can get an item here in Canada, that's where I'll be going for it.
Lauffray
Invisible Cities
Our postal services is being deformed by nickel and dime policies of conservatives, but let's not get into politics.
With respect, I'm not convinced by your argument, I've bought stuff from Europe and Asia and shipping from there was cheap. Canada Post is slow, but I've never had problems with undelivered or damaged goods
CVickery
Established
Not sure how recent you experience is but I've been buying and selling across the Canada/US border (from the Canadian side) for quite a few years now and although the services are not as fast as the premium services I've never had the issues you describe...price aren't great, but generally competitive and I've never had an item damaged to the point that a claim was necessary. My volume isn't trivial either..300+ on ebay, 200+ on FM, 20-30 here, with a significant portion to or from the US.
As far as how the post office corps are run, AFAIK the USPS and CanadaPost seem to have similar practices
dallard
Well-known
If you're sending something to Canada from the US that weighs under 4 lbs the 1st class parcel rates aren't terribly bad. It looks like a 2 lb package to Canada should only cost $16.55 or $14.54 if you print the postage online. On the other hand it looks like a priority flat rate medium box to Canada will set you back $42.25 or $40.15 if you print the postage online.
dallard
Well-known
And pretty much all sellers use online postage.
alan davus
Well-known
Hey, feel for us in Australia... we get the short end of the stick no matter where we order from
True to a degree. I've virtually given up buying stuff from the States because shipping is so expensive. However costs from the UK can really vary. For example I've recently had a couple of purchases from a Cotswald based Outdoor Store (hiking gear) and there shipping is a flat Aussie
$9.
peterm1
Veteran
I seldom buy from USA for this reason. My wake up call was when I wanted to buy a $5 filter from USA and the seller wanted $40 for postage and handling (basic shipping - nothing fancy). When I queried it I got an mouth full of abuse. Asia gets almost all of my business now.
Vobluda
Well-known
In HK business mail is heavily subsidized by government to support foreign trade (maybe in continental China as well, I am not sure).
Also work conditions and wages in China/HK are something that has to be taken into account.
Also work conditions and wages in China/HK are something that has to be taken into account.
Rayt
Nonplayer Character
Shipping is not officially subsidized by the government whether HK, China or Japan. But that may just be pure semantics since the post office is a government organ. These are export economies and due to the sheer volume of packages being sent overseas their mail systems (not private couriers) are more cost effective. Also sellers offer very low or free shipping but these costs are factored into the price of the item. Typically a small package from from these countries weighing a pound or so sent via EMS is around $20 and takes 3 days to get there with tracking and it is even cheaper for regular airmail. For a Canon flash from the film era which is practically worthless in Japan they can sell it to a market where it still has some value and make a profit even with low shipping quote.
photomoof
Fischli & Weiss Sculpture
Yeah I get bike parts and model cars all the time from China on ebay and shipping is free! Or $6.00 ePacket delivery from Hong Kong at most!
I don't know how they do it, bought some nice battery holders recently for a dollar for two, free shipping! Arrived in a week.